Baby's First Steps. That's today's topic from Dr. Don Wilton on this edition of the Encouraging Word broadcast. As we share this great teaching, know that we're here for you 24 hours a day on our website, www.tewonline.org. You can sign up for the daily devotion right now.
That's www.tewonline.org. Now today's message from Dr. Wilton. Now friends, I'm going to invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Acts and chapter 1. Book of Acts and chapter 1. For the benefit of those who have not been here, we have begun a series entitled Back to the Future throughout the book of Acts. These are going to be exciting days. I've been looking forward to preaching and sharing with you God's Word even this morning and I'm grateful to each one of you. I'm going to entitle our message today, A Baby's First Step.
Rather an unusual title. Nothing more precious than that, is there? Watching a baby's first step. My wife and I loved her. I know I shouldn't say this with my two sons here and my daughter. But I tell you, even though my two sons are two pet gorillas today, I tell you I actually remember a day when both of them and my daughter took their first step. You know, it's one of those things that you just never forget.
Moms and dads get down on the carpet and get the cameras rolling and you want to capture that very special moment. Remember when Annalise did that? Carol, just special. I tell you. Watch those first steps.
I'm going to tell you something very interesting. When we ask God to show us what He wants us to do as a church, one of the things that we must do is we must go back to first steps. Now friend, if you are married here today, one of the greatest things that you can do in your marriage is to go back to when you first were married. You know what happens over time sometimes? We get so used to being married that we take marriage for granted. We get so used to it, we even begin to say to ourselves, I don't ever remember a time when I wasn't married.
And she's married to me, she's always going to be there so she can jolly well open the door herself. Now let's just be honest with each other. Don't we do that? We do that with our families, we do that with one another. We eventually get so used to walking and doing the things that we do that we just simply take them for granted.
You want to reignite the fire in your life, go back to your first step. Well here in the Bible, in the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus Christ had just left the disciples and the Lord Jesus Christ had just said, I want you to know that I'm giving you instructions and the disciples and the church of Jesus Christ are about to take their first step. Now it's not entirely a pretty picture. In fact, when a baby takes the first step, I think you have to get ready for a great fall and potentially a catastrophe. I mean that first step comes out and there they are balancing and the next minute, boom, down they go and you just clear everything out the way.
It's no different in life. Here in the Acts of the Apostles, something very interesting. God takes us back to the early church and He reminds us of some of the most precious things that are written in our hearts.
Let's take a look at them and I want to stop a number of times as I read from verse 12 in the book of Acts. Remember Jesus had just gone up to heaven, verse 12. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives. Now just to put this into context here, the Mount of Olives is here where I'm standing. And the Mount of Olives looks down, if you're facing Jerusalem, it not only looks down on the city of Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem is about 200 foot below the Mount of Olives.
All right? And then below that is the Kidron, the K-I-D-R-O-N, the Kidron Valley, which kind of winds its way around the walls of Jerusalem. And you look down from the Mount of Olives where Jesus ascended to be seated at the right hand of the Father, down onto Jerusalem and down into the Kidron Valley, which is 400 feet down. Now what the Bible is going to tell us that they've just been up here on the Mount of Ascension, the Mount of Olives, and they've been instructed to go back to Jerusalem. So they're going to walk down this hill, down through the Kidron Valley, which drops to 400 feet below, and then up the other side and through what we would call the Eastern Gate or the Golden Gate, the gate that Jesus Christ is going to come through when he comes back for the second time.
And they're going to go back to a place called the Upper Room, and I'm going to talk about that in a minute. But the Bible is going to tell us here in verse 12 that it was a Sabbath day's walk from the city. Now listen carefully. The Jews, and these were Jewish people, they were restricted on the Sabbath day. And a Sabbath day walk was approximately one and a half to about one and three quarters of a mile. If you go back and read in Joshua chapter 3 and verse 4 and many of the other places in Scripture. And so you get an idea. They're walking about one and a half to almost two miles from the Mount of Olives, down through the Kidron Valley, up the other side, and to the Upper Room where they met. Now let's read on. Verse 12, then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city.
When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James, son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot. And Judas, that's not Judas Iscariot, this is the other Judas, the son of James. We're going to learn about Judas Iscariot. You ever wondered what happened to Judas after he betrayed the Lord Jesus?
Alright, watch what happens. Verse 14, they all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the woman and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. In those days, Peter stood up among the believers. How many believers were in Jerusalem? Here it is. A group numbering of about 120. And he said, brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke about long ago back in Psalm.
I'm going to show you that in a minute. Through the mouth of David concerning Judas Iscariot, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was one of our number and shared in this ministry. With the reward he got for his wickedness, remember, the high priest paid Judas pieces of gold and silver so that he would betray the Lord Jesus Christ. So with the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field.
And by the way, that field is down there in the Kidron Valley. Bought a field and there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. What actually happened to Judas, if I may just tell you this, there are literally cliffs that you can see hanging there. And Judas went and hanged himself. He committed suicide. And while he was hanging himself, the rope that he was using to hang himself broke loose. It snapped. And what happened to Judas was that he fell down this rocky cliff into the Kidron Valley and that is what is being described here.
Now listen what happened. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called the field in the Hebrew language, Aqeldama, that is the field of blood. For, said Peter, it is written in the book of Psalms, may his place be deserted and let there be no one to dwell in it and may another take his place of leadership. Therefore, said Peter, it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time. The Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection. So, they proposed two men. The first one was Joseph called Barsabbas, also known as Justice, and the other one was Matthias. Then they prayed.
So far, so good. Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry which Judas left to go to where he belongs. Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias, and so he was added to the eleven. Now, I want to just say something here very quickly.
I think it's very important. When Jesus rose and ascended, what did he say to the disciples? He said, I want you to go back to Jerusalem and wait. Everybody say this. Wait. Uh-uh, that wasn't everybody.
Everybody say, wait. These must have been Baptists, folks, because they went back to Jerusalem, but they weren't prepared to praise God. Didn't Jesus, did Jesus say go back and elect a new disciple?
No, he said you go back and? Praise. Now, that's one of my problems.
Did you know that? I've got to confess that to you today. I don't find it easy just to sit down and wait. You know, sometimes I sit and think, and other times I just sit. Jesus said, I want you to go and just sit.
You know why? Because you've got no power. You don't have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has not yet come, and outside of the Holy Spirit, you are rendered powerless.
Now, I'm going to say something to you here, folks. I believe that what happened here was a demonstration of a people who were willing to do what God said, but not willing to carry it out to the letter of the law in obedience to what God said. I believe we've got an expression here, not of the divine will of God, but of the permissive will of God. Sometimes God allows things to happen in order to get us to the point at which we line up with exactly what it is that he wants us to do.
It's just a passing point. G. Campbell Morgan and other great writers and pastors and doctrinal preachers have made a statement, and I believe it has a lot of validity. Do you know, folks, they prayed about Matthias, and eventually when they prayed, they said, well, nothing seems to be happening, so we'll just sit down and cast lots on this one. And they chose Matthias.
Do you know that that's the last time Matthias is ever mentioned? Friend, may I say this to you at First Baptist Church? If God tells us to wait, we wait. When God tells us to do, we need to do. We don't ever need to resort to casting lots in order to try and determine what it is that God wants us to do.
We don't ever need to take the best of two evils, and one of the things that we've got to ask God to help us to do is we've got to say to him, Lord, help us to know exactly what it is you want us to do, and then when you tell us what to do, let us go and do it because you've spoken. But there's something remarkable about this baby's first step. Why a baby? Because this was the beginning of the New Testament church. It had never been there before. They were about to take the first step, and it seems to me that when the Lord God in heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, looked down and he saw what was going on down there, you know, somehow just in my heart, I believe that God loves us so much that he knew this was a baby's first step.
He knew how frail and fragile we really are, and he knew that they would make mistakes, and you know, God's someone who allows us to make mistakes. Did you know that? It's not over today. It's not over for you. Sometimes we stumble and we fall, but you know, Daddy's always there to catch.
He's always there to pick us up. Maybe you've stumbled or fallen today. Maybe you've been trying to take steps. Maybe they're too big.
Maybe they're too quick. And what God is saying, listen, I'm there to catch you, and when I help you up, I'm going to teach you how to walk properly. I'm not just going to teach you how to walk properly. I'm going to teach you how to run. I'm going to teach you to stay upright. I'm going to teach you to get to the point at which you don't ever have to think about putting one foot in front of another.
You're just automatically going to do it because I'm going to teach you how to do it, and you're going to do it in the right way. Well, here was the New Testament Church's first step. Let's try and look at it. Let's ask God to show us what it is in this particular passage prior to Pentecost, before the coming of the Holy Spirit. What was God saying? Well, look at the place.
Wonderful. The Bible says they went to the upper room. I believe that upper room potentially is the upper room where the disciples met prior to the arrest and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Special place. There in verse 13, the Bible says they went to the upper room. They went back there to wait upon the Lord. They gathered together.
It was very special. It was a special place of worship. There's something special about gathering together, being together, seeking God's face together. That's what this upper room experience was for them. It was a place where they gathered together.
But I don't only want us to look at the place, just look at the people who gathered. Bible tells us something about them. Bible says, well, the disciples, eleven of them were there because we know that Judas Iscariot had committed suicide.
So they were one short of the twelve. Bible tells us about that. And then down there in verse 14, the Word says, also with them was the woman and Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers. Did you know that Jesus had brothers and sisters? Some people think that after the birth of Jesus that that was the end of their family.
No, not at all. Bible tells us in many different places. You can go to Mark's Gospel, chapter 6 and verse 3.
There it is laid out for us. Who were these women? Well, we know who many of them were. There was Mary Magdalene.
We know about her. There was Mary, the wife of Clopas, who was most certainly there. There was Mary and Martha. Remember the tremendous relationship they had with the Lord Jesus Christ.
There was Salome. There was a gathering together of wonderful people who meant so much to the Lord Jesus in addition to his brothers. And the Bible tells us about them. We know about James. We know he was the first head of the Jerusalem church. We can read about that later on in the book of Acts. We don't know a whole lot about Joseph, the namesake of his father. We know something about Judas. Judas was the one who wrote the epistle to Jude.
We don't know a lot about Simon. But we do know something that gathered together in the upper room in this first step of the New Testament church was a whole gamut of 120 people just like you and me. That's what the church is meant to be. The church is not an exclusive club. Church is not a place just for old people or just for young people. It's not a place just for wealthy people or for poor people.
It's not just a place for this type of person or that type of person. I got such a precious letter, my wife and I did, from one of our people in the church who said to us this week, thank you for praying with us and for being with us and for participating with us even in the context of our struggles and the pain that we go through. So many times I hear about all the deacons going out and visiting with people.
That's what the New Testament church is all about. But I want to take you further than that, not just the place and the people, but I want you to look at the prayer of the first church. This prayer in verse 14 was remarkable. They all joined together constantly in prayer. It seems to me that prayer was the hallmark.
It was the centerpiece. When Jesus said, go back and wait for me, they knew that what they had to do was they had to pray. Some people said, well, why did they pray? You want me to tell you why they prayed?
Because up until this point, the way in which they talked to Jesus Christ was they talked to Him. Excuse me, Lord, are you hungry? Could I get something to eat? Are we going over here?
Do you want to go left or right? They had a conversation with Him. Suddenly Jesus took them to the Mount of Olives and He was taken from their sight and Jesus had talked them and said to them, I want you to know that even though you cannot talk to me face to face, I am going to give you the only way by which you are able to talk to me face to face.
It's called prayer. These disciples were hungry for communication. They wanted to talk to their Lord and the way they did that was through prayer. And the only way that you can know what God wants you to do is when you talk to them. Prayer is not a monologue.
It's a dialogue. It is a conversation with God and what the Word is saying to us is that the very centerpiece of the New Testament church needs to be grounded and founded upon prayer. Two things about this prayer. It was a united prayer. The Bible says they were all together and it was a persistent prayer.
They never gave up. Forgive the interruption, but we believe in prayer and we're not giving up. If you'd like to have someone pray with you right now or any time, 24 hours a day, jot this number down. It's 866-899-WORD. That'll connect you to the encouraging Word.
866-899-9673. We'd love to pray with you, to connect you with resources and encourage you. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. They were persistent.
They were unified. Well, there's the place and the people and the prayer. I want you to look at something else. I want you to look at the pastor.
I like that. Look down there at verse 15. The Bible says in those days while this was going on, Peter stood up.
Friends, there is something very special about the pastor of the church. If you go way back into the book of Exodus from the time of the liberation of the Israelites, God always raised up in the midst of God's people, God's man. God has always done that. That's the way that God works. He has always done that.
There is no exception to the rule. And you can take a journey right throughout Scripture and right throughout the history of the world and you're going to find everywhere, anytime and in any place, God always raised a man up in the midst of the people and He gave to him the responsibility to lead God's people and to be the shepherd of the flock. Well, in this case it was Peter.
Peter was the undisputed pastor of this group of disciples and notice his posture by the way he stood up. I love that. Do you know what I thought of doing sometimes if you'll just excuse me for a minute? I thought I would just sit down and say, isn't it great to be in church, everybody get out your Bibles this morning? In fact, have a cup of coffee while I'm doing this. Let's just sit here and all relax and you know, it's just God's house and I think I'll just sit here now and I'll do a little preaching. Doesn't kind of fit, does it? Have you ever wondered why your pastor stands up, walks around, preaches, gets excited?
Why? It's in the Bible. It's what God calls us to do. I've never seen where God said to the pastor, take a seat and have a nice little warm conversation with somebody. God says stand up and speak with boldness and with conviction and it's very interesting here folks and I'm not trying to get into homiletics which is the science and the art of preaching which I've taught for many years but I'm going to say to you that there was a method, he had a methodology in this message that he preached in this worship service as the baby took its first step.
You can divide it up almost equally. There was a period of instruction here in these verses, followed by explanation, followed by exhortation, followed by invitation. There you have it. That was his message. It's very clear. Instruction, he instructed them in the Word of God. Here in verse 16 and 20, he took them right there to the Word of God.
He said this is the Word. This is what God's Word said, followed by a period of explanation. He explained the Word of God.
He illustrated it. He tied it right into the heart of Judas, right into the heart of David, right into the heart of Jesus Christ, right into the heart of the ministry and the calling of the disciples and he explained what was going on. Then he got into exhortation in verse 21 and he said I exhort you on the basis of God's Word that you go out and that you do exactly what God is saying to you and then there's the invitation in the latter part of verse 22 where he says we are all invited to go out and to be witnesses of which this twelfth person must of needs be, be a part.
Incredible. Now homileticians and great preachers I'm sure could pick holes in this message that was preached by Pastor Peter. Here is the New Testament church took its first step but I don't think that that's really relevant. God is not after our mental verbosity or our mental cleverness or the ability of any preacher to get up and have all peas to outline his message and maybe you and I if Peter was preaching maybe we wouldn't have been able to sit and take notes.
I always try to help you to take notes because I believe it's very important but that's not what important. What God is saying is listen I am taking you back to the future so that in the future you do what I am telling you to do and you don't do what you've got used to doing that stands out the parameters of what I've told you to do. Are we doing what God is telling us to do? They even had a program folks, they did. Oh there was a place and a people and a prayer and a pastor they even had a program and the program even had very clear outline. There was prayer, the Bible tells us they prayed in verse 14 and verse 24.
The Bible says they worshipped, they talked about God, it was the centerpiece, it occupied the place of preeminence alongside prayer but there was a third component to their program, they were bounced and told to step into action. Go and do what I have told you to do. And right there in verse 22 the Bible says they went, they did, they acted, they got off their seats and they did what God was calling them to do. Here's the question today, what kind of action do you and I need to take? I want to invite you to put into action what God is putting in your heart. What powerful teaching from Dr. Don Wilton and are we ready to put into action what God has put in our hearts?
As you've heard Dr. Wilton preach now, listen as he steps into the studio to share his heart. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.
This is exciting news. If you just gave your life to Christ or rededicate your life, please give us a call. We have wonderful resources we want to put in your hand and help you launch to the next steps. Our number is 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. Or if you'd rather, connect with us right now on our website at www.tewonline.org.
That's www.tewonline.org where you'll discover great resources like this. What's going on in your life today? Are you thinking about giving up? Don't give up! We cannot afford to be deterred on the Christian journey.
Too much is at stake. This month Dr. Wilton has two special resources to send you for your gift of support to the encouraging Word. You will receive Dr. Wilton's inspiring message, Pressing Forward, along with Courageous Faith by Dr. Charles Stanley. Both of these ministry resources will help fortify your faith to stay the course on the Christian journey. Call us at 866-899-WORD.
That's 866-899-9673. And request Pressing Forward and the bonus book Courageous Faith today. Thank you for supporting the encouraging Word. We cannot fulfill our mission without you. It's been a great day of Bible study with Dr. Don Wilton, but there's more encouragement on our website www.tewonline.org. Television broadcasts over the weekend, including Daystar and more. All the details are again on our website at www.tewonline.org.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-09-14 08:12:23 / 2023-09-14 08:23:13 / 11